It’s Official: A ‘Lord of the Rings’ Prequel TV Series Is Coming to Amazon

You just can’t keep a good dark lord down. After word of a potential Lord of the RingsTV series broke, Amazon has made their commitment official with a multi-season order and potential spinoff. And guess what – it’s a prequel!

Amazon officially confirmed a “multi-season commitment” for a new Lord of the Rings TV series, along with “a potential additional spin-off series.” And lest you wonder whether the streaming service would retell Frodo’s journey to Mount Doom at a slower pace, Amazon’s announcement also confirms that the new series will “explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.”

Here’s what Amazon said of the project:

The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen. We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.

The announcement also follows a years-long legal battle between Warner Bros. and the Tolkien estate over the use of movie characters in online slot machines and other games. From what we can tell, film franchise director Peter Jackson doesn’t appear involved in Amazon’s Lord of the Rings adaptation, having garnered little mention in the press release.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s extensive lore could naturally support any number of plots or characters within the Lord of the Rings universe, but who might the new series follow? Stay tuned for all the latest details.